Reclaimed Pallet Wood Wall

Hey Guys.
So I did have a question up on another part of the forum and uploaded content and pictures there. But i have decided to start a new thread, to make it easier to see and see my mistakes.

Here goes.
The Mrs wanted to change the flat, and have a space for her plants where the cat does not have access to them. I think i failed on both those objectives, but more on that later.

I decided to be an eco warrior and use reclaimed wood to make a feature wall.
The plan was:
1. Use reclaimed wood - maybe pallet.
2. Have a sturdy wall, that covered around a 3 meter width and floor to ceiling. - I later changed this to 2600mm, and a rise of 2400mm.
3. Maybe have back lighting
4. Give some way of putting plants on it.

So initially i set about looking for pallets, quickly realised they wouldn't fit into the car. Luckily a really nice guy on Gumtree had a load and said he would even deliver i took them all. Problem was, i didn't check how many there was - i just said yes.
Here is what arrived:

Yes, a few too many and all sorts of condition... I split them out to pick out the ones in decent condition and trying to work out what to do with the rest.

I bought a second hand reciprocating saw (which failed after a short while - anyone that can help me fix it would be appreciated). I used it to cut through the nails between the Stringer and the deck. This took a while and gave me a really sore hands and wrist.

Without the saw i think there was only on other option a pallet crow bar. But they are quite pricey.

All in all, i dismantled around 10 pallets. It took around 4 hours.

I then de-nailed all the planks using a Nail punch and hammer. Quite an arduous task given there is 6 nails per plank, without it you will have unsafe rusted nails in the board and rip up your sand paper. - Around 450 heads.

I then took out the belt sander, and sanded down one face of each plank, some needed the edges doing as well. I didn't want a totally clean finish so it was a light brush. Although i lost quite a bit of character doing that. - Unavoidable.

Once finished, i lined all the wood up to see how much coverage i had. I estimated around 7m/squared, as it turned out this would be just about enough - there will be LOTS of wastage from off cuts and bits you cant use. Additionally i found most of the pallets varied in plank dimensions, some around 95mm width vs 70mm vs 75mm. Lengths varied too: 1000mm vs 1100mm. Even the depth of wood but only marginally.

Luckily, the wall it was going on didn't need much prep, i drew out an approximate plan, then drew a perfectly vertical line.

Once done, i planned how many batons and how to hold them on.
I tried to look for stud work and electrics, but for some reason it was near enough impossible in these walls. This was the most difficult part finding secure areas to mount the batons to.

Additionally, some batons had no studs, and cavities behind them., Luckily i found to very top screw and the very bottom screw would hit what felt like breeze blocks, so used appropriate wall plugs - I hope the plugs i used are secure enough!

I used 40mm x 60mm batons with the 60mm on the wall. - This would give a 40mm clearing for plugs in sockets and a bit of clearing for the LED strips for accent lighting. - Again exactly vertical.

This is the bank of sockets, initially i was assuming the cables had been drop strait down from the ceiling to each. A forum member suggested the sockets may connect to each other in between. He was right. It dropped down to one, went across the 3 sets, then back up on the last one.

Once secured, time to start cladding.
I started at the very top first as i wanted to make sure there was a 50mm gap from the ceiling so i can mount an LED strip to the back of it - starting left to right.

I carefully used the spirit level to make sure it was exactly horizontal, nailed a single nail in to each batton, then moved on to the next, and the last measured to the end, cut it down on the Mitre saw then exact level.

The next row started with a shortened plank, then, using the spirit level making sure the two planks where edge perfect and level, then nailed the centre nail, then moved the spirit level under neath to check it was level again. This is really important to make sure you keep gaps between planks to a minimum.

Optionally, i left small 'windows' in the wall, to make shelves for plants using the same wooden planks. The windows where the height of 2 planks and around 300mm.

Repeat these step over and over, using different widths of wood - but the same across the line.

Where there is a small gap at the end (sometimes in the middle) - only held on by one baton, i had to add extra nails for security, as well as using the staple gun with 15mm staples to line up and staple the edge to the plank above and below. After a few rows i realised to line up the middle cuts with single batons i had to do the same from underneath between planks on either side.
I did run into numerous problems, mainly because of the condition of the wood where it was curved or bent. - read them below.

Around the socket area i wanted to keep it accessible. Initially i wanted to use a dowel peg to hold on a plank of wood, unfortunately my carpentry skills are crap, so managed to get one to fit perfectly, the other just drove me to frustration. So i decided just to have it slot in and use a piece of Sisal rope either side to pull the piece out. I then decided i wanted to be able to pull the wires out fully. So left a gap between the bottom pieces, allowing them to rest on the batons either side.

Lessons:
1. Be prepared for sore wrists and hands from using the reciprocating saw.
2. Don't expect there to be equal number of studs
3. Over engineer the weight.
4. Use a nail gun - Hammering makes your hands sore, and the constant banging can make the batons loose.
5. Accommodate for sockets (if there are any) with at least 5cm gap.
6. Always wear a mask when working with wood - cutting and sanding.
7. Always wear eye protection - the saw, and the mitre saw can send bits flying.
8. Make sure all the planks are strait. found some had slight bows in them where the wood curled, others had bows in the cuts - these are useless.
9. Don't leave things behind the boards - i accidentally left my staple gun plugged in behind, then had to dismantle a bit to remove - DUH!

Must admit I used a pressure washer on some of these reclaimed boards, let them dry and the result was a rustic looking finish OK that was on a timber gate.

Ken

Click to expand...

I thought of washing them, then thought i may lose some of the character - so just sanded very lightly. Some of the pieces i love - Its odd how you can actually reallly like certain pieces of straight timber.